The End of a Journey

At first it was just simple messages about your babyhood and milestones. Babies just days a part gave us a lot to compare for the next twenty years. Our ginger haired pale forces of nature.

Your mother, who became my friend, told her journey to motherhood, her journey to you and it gave other women hope. YOU gave them hope.

Everything you did under the sun your mother delighted in. She adored you. You were her miracle. She inhaled every part of who you were and it was unconditional.

I watched you grow up through pictures. From toddlerhood to manhood. I delighted in my yearly Christmas Card and loved when social media boomed and I could watch you and your sister bloom under the watchful eye of your mother. Sometimes a picture does say a thousand words.

I was a stranger. An onlooker to your life but loved you from a far. I had hopes for you and prayed for you. I always thought that you would make your way down south so I could meet you face to face. To see the boy I had heard so much about, a son and a brother who was trying to find his way in this world.

I remember encouraging your mom to homeschool you and to let you be adventurous even though it made her nervous. I loved hearing about your studies into alternative medicine and building furniture. I snickered to myself plenty of times when your mom would tell me the latest mischievous trouble you would get into. I loved that you challenged her.

I will never forget your mother’s due diligence in bringing a sibling home to you. It seems like it was yesterday Lissa was born, and home. The two of you were made for each other as if Destiny willed it into being. I know from personal experience that she on her life journey will wonder what you would say, what you would do, and why did you have to go so soon.

I regret not having met you or even shared a joint. I would have asked you about your adventures and told you about the Delta. And I would have asked you what led you to become a conservative. I may have harassed you a bit about all the hard times you gave your mom and caused her to worry.

Your journey is over here . I hate that the world will never get to see the man we all knew you had the capability to become. You will be in my heart remembered as the ginger haired boy who stole his mother’s heart, who enjoyed the outdoors and daring adventure, and who pushed Boundaries to discover who you were.

On the other side I hope you have found what you were looking for. I hope there is a peace to your restlessness. I hope you feel the love from all those who knew you.